Loose Women will shift to a seasonal schedule of 30 weeks per year and will no longer have a studio audience, as part of ITV’s major shake-up for 2026
Loose Women panellist Janet Street Porter has spoken out about the upcoming changes to the ITV show, set to take effect in 2026. As part of a major shake-up to ITV’s scheduling, there will be fewer episodes aired of the popular lunchtime programme, and live studio audiences will also be scrapped.
With the show being scaled back to just 30 weeks a year, reports also suggest that some of the 26-strong panel could also be cut. Addressing the changes, the 78-year-old said she won’t be affected by it.
“They won’t really affect me because I work when I want to work,” she shared with Woman Magazine.
“I can see they need to save money but from my point of view, I’m sad they’ve cut the episodes because Loose Women as a brand is doing extremely well for ITV.
“Very well indeed. It’s increased its audience share and it’s loved by the audience.”
Janet is one of the long-term panellists, who has been a part of the show since 2011.
In a previous interview, she seemed adamant that the older stars will not be axed from the programme.
“There are no plans to get rid of the older women, despite of what some people have said!,” she told Bella Magazine.
“In fact, the reverse is true. ITV actually put out a statement saying we are the valued members of the show because the audience totally relate to us.”
Janet went on to say that the show has become “trusted by a lot of women”, due to the difficult topics the panellists discuss, such as female health and domestic violence.
“I think the show has managed to connect to women who wouldn’t otherwise have a voice,” she added.
“And it’s delivered with a lot of laughs because we don’t take ourselves too seriously.”
While Janet may not seem worried by the news, her co-star Nadia Sawalha has expressed a very different view.
In an emotional video on her YouTube Channel, the presenter said she found the “out of the blue” cuts “absolutely brutal”.
Addressing her uncertain future on the show due to being self-employed, she added: “I could be let go tomorrow, [or] I could be let go in five years, you don’t know because we’re not employees.”
As well as Loose Women, Lorraine Kelly’s self-titled show will also only operate on a 30-week seasonal basis, and will be cut from one hour to 30 minutes on air.
In a statement, Kevin Lygo, the managing director of ITV’s Media and Entertainment Division, acknowledged that the broadcaster is going through a “transition”.
He said: “I recognise that our plans will have an impact on staff off screen in our Daytime production teams.
“We will work with ITV Studios and ITN as they manage these changes to produce the shows differently from next year, and support them through this transition.”
Loose Women airs weekdays from 12.30pm on ITV and ITVX.